Monday, February 12, 2018

Guess who takes credit for the reversal of marriage equality in Bermuda?

Brian S. Brown of National Organization for Marriage claims to have provided invaluable support to marriage discrimination in Bermuda. Does Mr. Brown wish to take credit for damaging Bermuda's tourist economy? According to an email sent to supporters:

NOM played a significant behind-the-scenes role in the tremendous victory in Bermuda. Our team advised pro-marriage supporters there on strategies to preserve marriage and I travelled <sic> there twice to meet with activists from Preserve Marriage Bermuda to discuss potential strategies. In 2016, Bermuda conducted a national referendum to advise the Parliament on whether gay 'marriage' should be allowed, with 68% of voters resoundingly rejecting same-sex 'marriage.'

The referendum was irrelevant. It was non-binding and legally invalid because it had a turnout of less than 50%. Gay couples have known for some time to avoid the island due to Bermuda's long held reputation for being anti-gay. The reversal of marriage equality by the parliament is outrageous and will probably face further legal challenges

As obnoxious as all this is, Bermuda is about one-third the size of Washington, DC and has a population of 70,864 people (comparable to Clifton, NJ).

The title of Brown's email is: “They also lie.” The text is frequently interrupted by links with requests for donations. Brown recycles, verbatim, some Prop 8 rhetoric:

The biggest lie about same-sex 'marriage' is that it is inevitable. LGBT activists and their partners in the media regularly trot forth with falsehoods such as gay marriage is somehow part of an "arc of history," and that everybody needs to embrace it if they want to be "on the right side of history."

Brown follows this with more recycled rhetoric from 2015:

They also want people to accept the lie that since the U.S. Supreme Court imposed gay marriage on the nation in 2015 with their illegitimate and anti-constitutional Obergefell decision, that the issue is resolved for all and that it's time to accept it - no, more than accept it, everyone must openly embrace and celebrate it.

Nearly three years later (five years since US v. Windsor) Brown is incapable of voicing any reasoning. He opposes same-sex marriage because he is a fanatical Catholic zealot and the Church opposes same-sex marriage. It is, by the way, impossible for the Supreme Court to make an “illegitimate” or “anti-constitutional” ruling. Marbury v. Madison settled that issue in 1803. Brown seems to absurdly think that a Supreme Court decision must please the Church to be valid.

The last clause of that spew, about embracing and celebrating marriage equality, is an expression of arrogance. Brown is convinced that we seek, or even require, his approval. He cannot seem to accept the simple fact that we do not care whether or not he likes same-sex marriage. Brian S. Brown doesn't matter.

The point that he is trying to make is even more ludicrous:

NOM heartily congratulates the people of Bermuda and the leadership of Preserve Marriage Bermuda. Their efforts are a powerful proof point that the "inevitability" of same-sex 'marriage is a lie and that the fight for marriage can be won, even when the judicial elite think they can impose their will on a country, as tragically occurred here in the U.S.

What Brown is ridiculously implying is that people should donate to NOM because, if same-sex marriage can be reversed in Bermuda, it can be reversed in the United States. “Tragically?” Seriously? Here is the simple question for Brian Brown and his wife, Susan Brown: NOM aside, how has same-sex marriage affected your lives and your marriage?

16 years ago, almost to the day, Brown testified before a Connecticut legislative committee. He claimed that gays should be prohibited from marrying because they are crappy parents:

The plain truth is that most social scientists agree that having a mother and a father does matter. As David Blankenhorn, respected researcher and author of Fatherless America said in response to the recent AAP decision, “We’re going to find out with same-sex couples just what we found out with divorce. The children are at higher risk for problems." And just like the advocates of the 1970’s that proclaimed that "studies show" children of divorce do fine, the advocates of same-sex parenting have no scholarly legs to stand on.

David Blankenhorn became a supporter of marriage equality. 16 years later, there isn't any evidence to support Brown's prediction. Yet, he still mouths the same bullshit in support of the Catholic Church's political ambitions, It is political because the Church does not limit its disapproval to adherents. They wanted to impose their ideology on everyone by force of law.

The issue has been settled. Brown can never accept that but, as I said, Brown is irrelevant.